Jury Still Discussing Penalty for Johnson

Jurors finished a third day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict on whether to sentence convicted cop-killer Michael Raymond Johnson to life in prison or death.

Last month, the same jurors deliberated just one day before convicting Johnson, 50, of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Sheriff’s Deputy Peter J. Aguirre.

The 26-year-old deputy was shot four times when he responded to a domestic-disturbance call in Meiners Oaks in July 1996. He died before he ever got his gun out of the holster.

Closing arguments in the penalty phase of the case concluded Wednesday.

Prosecutors argued that Johnson should die for the destructive impact he had on Aguirre’s family, friends and fellow law enforcement officials when he gunned down the deputy.

Defense attorneys conceded that what the Vietnam veteran did was unforgivable, but they argued that Johnson has suffered from paranoid delusions and paranoid schizophrenia for years, and should not be sentenced to death.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Todd Howeth begged for Johnson’s life, drawing on the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace” in urging the jury to grant mercy to his client.

“It is not necessary to sentence this man to execution,” he told jurors. “Life without the possibility of parole is enough.”

Deliberations will resume this morning.